Festival of Books 2016

One of the events my daughter and I look forward to this year is the Festival of Books. We both went to our first one last year and absolutely loved it! There were just so many events happening all around the USC campus that weekend. Some of our favorite highlights were meeting Claire Keene and watching Aarti Sequeira cook for us, watching Matilda the Musical perform live, meeting the dinosaurs from Natural Museum of History, and just walking around and visiting all of the booths.
The Festival of Books is a great event for the whole family. For parents of young ones, I recommend spending most of the day at the Reading By 9 Children’s Stage on the McCarthy Quad on the USC Campus. The line-up this year is great and there’s something for all the kids. Not to mention, there will be a lot of booths — aisles and aisles of them — to explore. Some booths will have activities, games, and freebies as well.
Here is the schedule for the children events at the Reading By 9 Children’s Stage. My additional comments are in bold below.
SATURDAY, April 9, 2016
- 10:00 a.m. – The Nick & Jen Show – Music Performance
- 10:30 a.m. – Peter Brown, author of “The Wild Robot”
- 11:00 a.m. – Sarah Mlynowski, author of “Once Upon a Frog” (Whatever After series)
- 11:30 a.m. – David Soman, Illustrator of “Ladybug Girl: The Super Fun Edition“
- 12:00 p.m. – Disney’s Lion Guard Rock & Roar Experience – Presented by Disney and Kindermusik – Must See! It’s a musical experience for kids 2-5 years old. Classes are normally packed, but it’s free at the festival!
- 12:30 p.m. – Taye Diggs and Shane W. Evans, author and illustrator of “Mixed Me!“
- 1:00 p.m. – Dinosaur Encounters – Presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – The dinosaurs normally roam around at the Natural History Museume, but once a year, they come and join us at the Festival of Books! The first show is usually the cute baby triceratops. The second show of the day usually involves the ferocious tyrannosaurus rex. They’re both life-size puppets that look very realistic. The kids just love them when they come on stage!
- 1:30 p.m. – Book Time Show by Ronald McDonald Presented by McDonald’s
This fun and educational performance will engage your students with a creative mix of music, magic, and games which reinforce the idea that reading is fun.
The show emphasizes appropriate library use and proper care of books. Ronald McDonald® delivers a powerful message: “Book Time” is an important part of every day!
- 2:00 p.m. – Emily Arrow, “Storytime Singalong“, Musical Performance – I’m really excited about seeing Emily Arrow! Thanks to the Festival of Books, I recently discovered this lovely musical talent. She recently released a new album and one of my favorite songs is Books, Books, Books!
- 2:30 p.m. – K.G. Campbell, author of “Dylan the Villain“
- 3:00 p.m. – Tad Hills, author of “Duck & Goose: Let’s Dance!“
- 3:30 p.m. – Dinosaur Encounters – Presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- 4:00 p.m. – Jane Smiley and Lauren Castillo, author & Illustrator of “Twenty Yawns” – This book is appropriate for 3-7 year olds.
- 4:30 p.m. – Meg Medina, author of “Mango, Abuela and Me” – This is a story about family, patience, and love.
- 5:00 p.m. – Andy Harkness, author of “Bug Zoo” – Andy is Disney Animation Art Director who will be reading his new book, Bug Zoo, at the festival! He will be signing his book right after the reading.
Harkness is an art director for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. He’s worked on such films as “Pocahontas,” “Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch,” “Tangled” and “Frozen.” He’s art-directed short films such as “The Ballad of Nessie” and Mickey Mouse’s “Get a Horse!” and won both an Annie and Emmy Award for art-directing ABC’s “Prep and Landing.” He lives With his wife and two sons in Manhattan Beach, and his newest book is “Bug Zoo.”
- 5:30 p.m. – The Nick & Jen Show – Music Performance
SUNDAY, April 10, 2016
- 10:00 a.m. – Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, authors of “Here’s Hank #7: You Can’t Drink A Meatball Through A Straw“
- 10:30 a.m. – Emily Arrow, “Storytime Singalong“, Musical Performance
- 11:30 a.m. – James Burks, author of “Pigs and a Blanket“
- 12:00 p.m. – Dinosaur Encounters – Presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- 12:30 p.m. – John Rocco, Illustrator of “Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep“
- 1:00 p.m. – William Joyce author of “Ollie’s Odyssey” Book is being released April 12th, so you will get a preview! The story is appropriate for ages 7 – 11 year old.
- 1:30 p.m. – Steven Savage – “Where’s Walrus? And Penguin?” Book is appropriate for children 3 – 5 year old.
- 2:00 p.m. – Jose-Luis Orozco, “Caramba!” – Music Performance
- 2:30 p.m. – John Bemelmans Marciano, author of “The Witches of Benevento“
- 3:00 p.m. – Dinosaur Encounters – Presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- 3:30 p.m. – Mary Pope Osborne, author of “Magic Tree House” series
- 4:00 p.m. – Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs – Presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – New exhibit coming July 3 – Oct 20, 2016! So you get to see a preview of it!
- 4:30 p.m. – The Nick & Jen Show – Music Performance
For more information, check out Festival of Books website.
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